Mardi Gras in the Ark-La-Tex parades start today

Jan. 13, 2007

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If you go

Upcoming parades

KREWE DES AMBASSADEURS MARDI GRAS PARADEWhen: 5 p.m. Feb. 3.Site: downtown Minden.Admission: free.SPRINGHILL MAIN STREET MARDI GRAS PARADEWhen: 1 p.m. Feb. 3.Route: begins at The Mall, South Main Street, north to the City Park and returns down First Street to The Mall.Theme: "Take 5 ... And All That Jazz," featuring Krewe of Artemis-Springhill.Special note: Anyone may enter.Admission: free.Information: To enter the parade, call (318) 539-5699 before Feb. 1.KREWE OF CENTAUR PARADEWhen: 4:30 p.m. Feb. 10.Route: starts at Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway downtown to Shreveport-Barksdale Highway to East Kings Highway and ends at Preston Avenue, Shreveport.Theme: "Centaur Comics."KREWE OF BARKUS & MEOUX MARDI PAW PARADEWHEN: Feb. 11. Festivities begin at 1:30 p.m. and the parade starts at 3 p.m.ROUTE: RiverView Park on Clyde Fant Parkway, across from SciPort Discovery Center.THEME: "Disco Dogs & Kool Kats."GRAND MARSHAL: Dr. Diane Sino.ENTERTAINMENT: Big Daw Productions.SPECIAL NOTE: The Rev. Kenneth Paul will do a blessing of the animals.REGISTRATION: $10 per animal.INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER ANIMALS: Web site: animalkrewe.org or the day of the parade.KREWE OF GEMINI XVIII GRAND PARADEWhen: 4:30 p.m. Feb. 17.Site: starts on Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway near Lake Street to Shreveport-Barksdale Highway to East Kings Highway, finishing at Preston Avenue, Shreveport.Theme: "World Celebrations."Admission: free.KREWE OF DIONYSOS PARADE DAYWhen: 5:30 p.m. Feb. 17, Natchitoches.Site: South Drive to Keyser Avenue, left to Washington Street, right on Jefferson to Front Street to Washington Street. Left on Second Street to Church Street. Left on Church Street to Church Street Bridge, where the parade ends.Admission: free.KREWE OF HIGHLAND PARADEWhen: 2 p.m. Feb. 18.Site: Highland neighborhood, with Carnival de Columbia held afterward at Columbia Park.Grand marshal: Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover.Admission: free.KREWE OF AESCLEPIUS PARADEWhen: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20.Site: Louisiana Boardwalk, Bossier City.Parade note: especially recognized as a parade for families with small children. Members of the court ride in floats and convertibles.Special note: A Mardi Gras Festival After Party will be held for all krewes and the public immediately after the parade.Admission: No charge for the parade and no charge scheduled at this time for the after party.Information: Jim Thomas, 222-8054. Also contact him if you want to put a float in the parade.

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Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover will serve as grand marshal for the Mardi Gras krewes of Sobek and Harambee parades that kick off the carnival parade season this weekend.

Krewe of Sobek Mardi Gras Parade is scheduled to roll at 1 p.m. today in the Queensborough neighborhood, and Krewe of Harambee Mardi Gras/Martin Luther King Day Parade Harambee will begin at 2 p.m. Monday downtown.

"If it rains, we will have a Jan. 20 rain date, parade co-captain Tarmara Flentroy said. A decision will be made no later than 9 a.m. today. "The weather is better than we thought earlier (Friday)," she said.

The forecast is not promising.

"The temperature's going to be great, probably 71, 72. You're not going to know it's January," said Chri stian Stapleton, a forecaster with the National Weather Service at Shreveport Regional Airport. "But they ought to figure there's going to be some water."

Meteorologists predict a 90 percent chance of rain today. The precipitation will be moving in ahead of a high pressure system coming from the Northwest, which will bring temperatures in the upper 20s late Monday and early Tuesday.

The two weekend parades are the first of 10 parades in Shreveport, Bossier City, Minden, Springhill and Natchitoches.

Parades in modern times started Feb. 24, 1990, with the Krewe of Gemini.

Mardi Gras parades are a nice economic boom for the area for the first part of the year, said Brandy Evans, vice president of communications for the Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau.

"All That Jazz" is the theme for the Sobek parade.

"We have extended our route to try to include the entire neighborhood," Flentroy said.

Sobek has two floats for its king and queen and the court, and as many members who want to ride, Flentroy said.

"We are trying to incorporate community organizations into the parade. Proverbs ... Women of Compassion are going to participate," Flentroy said.